In general, a computer compiler is a program, or group of programs, configured to translate source code from a programming language into object/machine code. This object/machine code may then be used by a computer processor to execute instructions. In other words, it is one object of a compiler to create an executable program. Typical operations of a compiler can include performing syntax analysis, parsing, code generation, code optimization, and more.
Computer programming relies upon combinations of basic logic structures to solve problems. One of these basic logic structures is called a loop structure. Specifically, a loop is a sequence of instructions that may be continually repeated until a specific condition is met. An iteration is a single pass through the sequence of instructions that makes up a computer programming loop structure. By way of example, a loop may include the steps of retrieving data, changing it, and checking a condition based on the changed data. In the event that the condition is not met, the next instruction in the program sequence may instruct the program to repeat the steps, or iterate, until the condition is met. These iterations may continue until the program terminates automatically or the program is terminated (e.g., via the computer operating system, etc.) with an error.
The compiler may make use of match operations to determine if a string, or sequence of characters, matches a pattern. Each time a pattern successfully matches, it sets variables. In a contact center context, matching operations may be performed in an inner loop via a compiler. During match operations, the compiler can look at all of the data in the inner loop to determine which variables are changing as a result of executing the inner loop. Due in part to the large number of variables that may change as the inner loop is executed, identifying changed critical variables can be difficult and involved.